Surprises
by QuestionableFate
Summary: Returning from a mission with Kakashi, what type of surprises does Naruto find when he gets home? Will he be able to handle what he finds? Naru/Hina
1. Chapter 1

Yo! This is my first fanfic, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi.

* * *

Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in The Leaves, was silent except for the people running home to get out of the rain. Few shops were open because of the time. Of the few shops that stayed open, most will be closing soon because of the rain pouring down over the city. Even with the rain pouring down, the shadows of the shinobi doing their patrols around the city could be seen briefly, and then they were gone again.

Two figures could be seen jumping from roof top to roof top. Their black cloaks fluttering around them; hiding all distinguishable features on their bodies. The only thing that could be seen through the darkness is their matted down hair. One of them has a silver – almost white – head of hair and the other with a distinctly blond one. The thuds from landing onto the roof tops, being drowned out by the rain. The two figures moving in a swift pace to get to their destination; which could be seen from their position on the roof tops.

Upon landing on the ground in front of the building, they proceeded to enter through the door. When inside of the building, the head of blond hair turned to his partner, "Why are we here again?"

An almost inaudible sigh escaped the silver haired man's masked mouth, "Because Naruto, even when you're an Anbu, you must to report to the Hokage."

The blond – now known as Naruto – sneered at the older looking man, although he can't see it through the porcelain mask over his face, "I know that sensei, I mean why do _I_need to be here. I'm not even ANBU yet. That's why you're here, remember?"

"Yes Naruto, I remember why I'm here. Just follow me." The silver haired man replied, in a bored tone.

They continued walking in silence, until reaching the reception desk. Behind the desk was a woman with shoulder length black hair, scribbling furiously at a few papers. When the silver haired man reached the front of the desk, he coughed lightly to get the woman's attention. Upon hearing the sound, the woman looked up from her papers to the two, "Yes?"

"Could we see the Hokage?" He said in an official sounding voice.

"Go right on in. She was expecting the two of you later, since you still have..." the woman glances down to a few papers, then looks back up to the two men, "…roughly two weeks to finish your mission." She finishes with a slightly impressed tone.

"Yeah well-", the man began – reverting back to his normal bored tone – but was interrupted by the blond, "Me and Kakashi-sensai taught those guys whose boss!" The smile Naruto had could practically be felt throughout the room.

"Is that so?" The black haired woman replied, with humor dancing in her eyes.

"Yeah! You should have seen us nee-chan, we were-", Kakashi then proceeded to drag Naruto toward the door, thus interrupting the blond, saying over his shoulder, "We'll be going right on in then. Thank you Shizune." Grinning at the duos antics, Shizune proceeds to continue her paperwork.

When Kakashi nears the door, he lets go of Naruto allowing the blond to right himself. He lifts up his right arm, knocking on the door softly. The sleeve of his cloak moving down, revealing his fingerless gloves, and his ANBU arm bracers. When he hears a muffled enter, he turns the doorknob, walking into the room, with Naruto walking silently behind him.

* * *

When the door closes behind them, they see a blond woman reading over a few official looking documents behind her desk. Noticing their stare, the blond woman looks up from the document towards the two men. Upon realizing who they were, and why they were there, she placed the document onto the desk leaning her elbows onto the surface of the desk, locking her hands together.

"Report." That was the lone word that escaped her mouth. Kakashi, noticing the serious demeanor on the Hokage's face, steps forward.

"Mission success, Hokage-sama. We were able to infiltrate the Sound base and extract the information." Kakashi stated with his words being muffled by the white, ANBU mask covering his face. He glances back at Naruto, who noticing the glance, reaches into his cloak and pulls out a manila folder. Handing the folder to the Hokage, Naruto steps back next to Kakashi.

The Hokage nods her head at that; shuffling through the papers in the folder, placing it on her desk, "Any casualties?"

"No Hokage-sama."

"Good, good…" she glances up toward Kakashi, "…how did he do?"

Kakashi takes a quick glance at Naruto's blank mask, seeing it facing toward the Hokage; he replies in a proud voice, while nodding, "He's ready."

Tsunade – The Hokage – resisted the urge to smirk at Kakashi. Nodding her head slightly, she reaches her hand under her desk, getting a hold of something. When she grabs it fully, she places it on the desk, sliding it toward Naruto, with a small smile gracing her lips.

"Congratulations brat, welcome to Anbu."

Upon looking down at what was on the desk, Naruto resisted the urge to leap for joy. There, sitting on the desk, was a white porcelain mask – resembling the one he currently has – but this mask having an intricate fox design, that seems to be smiling at the blond. The mask being painted in a blood red, it was a truly a marvelous site.

Slowly, Naruto reached his right hand up toward his current mask, sliding it off his face in a smooth motion. From a distance Naruto could have been mistaken for the Yondaime. With his still semi-wet unruly, blond hair and his sparkling cerulean blue eyes. When looking into them, one could truly get lost in his gaze. Three thin whisker like marks on each cheek marking him as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. His jaw line – having lost its baby fat from his younger years – adding on to his features making him appear more mature. Naruto quickly got a hold of the fox mask on the desk, bringing it up onto face. When a 'click' sound was heard, Naruto allowed his hand to fall down to his side.

Looking to his left, he saw his reflection in a window. With his reflection looking back at him with the smiling fox mask in place. Naruto couldn't stop himself from jumping up with joy. He was finally an ANBU! Him! The dead-last of the academy was an ANBU!

Naruto whipped his head back toward Tsunade, his excitement getting the best of him, as he shouts, "Thanks baa-chan!" Immediately after saying that, he had to duck under a book flying at his head.

"Damn it brat! I told you not to call me that!" Seeing Naruto jumping around in joy like a little kid again, Tsunade couldn't stop the full blown smile that appeared on her face. '_I guess I could let him have his fun… for now.'_Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine, but he ignored it.

Next to him, Kakashi allows a smile to form on his face from the two blondes' antics; the smile going unseen by the both of them. He reaches up toward his blue dog mask, unclipping it from his face; his arm sliding down, showing the blue facemask covering the lower half of his face. His headband slanted over his left eye, the only thing that could be seen is his right eye in its upside down 'U' shape. His hair – which was still wet a moment ago – somehow back in its usual gravity defying way.

After a moment, they all calmed down and were looking back at the Hokage. "Naruto," she began, "you know now that you're an ANBU, you will have more responsibility then before." After a short nod from Naruto, she continued, "You may be called upon at any time, no matter what you are doing." Another nod, "Good. It's important that you know that." Tsunade shuffles a few papers on her desk. "Since you two were able to finish your missions so early, I'll give you a few days off. " Ignoring the shout of 'yatta' from Naruto, she continued, "Naruto, as you know, you are required to take on kenjutsu. If you can't find a teacher, we will acquire one for you." She was simply making sure that Naruto understood the basics for new ANBU recruits.

Naruto – already knowing these things – waves a dismissive hand. Now, no one would be able to get away with that. You can't just dismiss the Hokage; but this is Naruto we're talking about, since when does he listen to reason? Even with all that he has matured, he still can't get over his dislike for rules. "Yeah, yeah, I already know this baa-chan. You told me this when I first told you I wanted to get into ANBU." He says with an bored drawl.

Tsunade gets a small tick mark on her forehead and a twitch in her eye. Noticing the twitch, Naruto rubs the back of his sheepishly and stands straighter. "I know _Naruto_ I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into." She ground out.

"Ha… so is there anything else?" Naruto replies with a nervous chuckle.

"Actually yes, there is." Calming down a little, she continues. "I need you here tomorrow so that you could get your official ANBU tattoo, and so you could meet your commanding officer."

Naruto didn't even wait until she finished speaking to begin his walk to the door. "Okay, I'll make sure to be here early then." Opening the door, he turns around, giving Tsunade a small wave and with a shout of, 'bye baa-chan!' he quickly shuts the door behind him, narrowly missing the book that was thrown at him.

Tsunade – who was still in her throwing position – sits back down in a small huff a grumble of 'brat' under her breath. Kakashi – who Tsunade forgot was still in the room – closed his book, having an amused look in his eye. Seeing the look, Tsunade gives him a hard glare, raising a book toward him in a threatening manner. Calming down again, she lets to book fall back onto her desk, "Make sure you're here tomorrow, and don't be late. You wouldn't want one of your precious books to have a… accident, would you?" Shaking his head with a frightened facial expression, Kakashi bolts out the door.

With a small laugh to herself, Tsunade finds herself alone again with nothing but her paperwork. Glaring down at said paperwork, she picks up a pen and begins look them over at a furious pace.

* * *

Kakashi followed the sound of laughter, coming from the secretary desk. Upon reaching the desk, he saw Shizune doubled-over laughing at something that Naruto said. Taking a quick glance at Naruto – who had taken off his fox mask and has clipped it to his belt – Kakashi sees him with a devious smile on his face. Shaking his head, he pulled out his tiny orange book and began reading.

Seeing Kakashi in front of her desk, Shizune's laughing increases even more than it already it. Also noticing Kakashi next to him, Naruto quickly changes his expression to an innocent one. Not noticing a change in Kakashi, Naruto turned around in a huff.

Calming down her laughter, Shizune turned her teary-eyes to Naruto and says, "Okay Naruto _giggle _we'll see you tomorrow for the _giggle _ANBU _giggle_ initiation." Then she broke out into more laughter.

Naruto nodded his head, sticking his tongue out at Shizune and motioning for Kakashi to follow him out. With a short 'see-ya' from Kakashi and a 'bye nee-chan' from Naruto, both men walked outside the building.

When outside of the Hokage tower, both men noticed that it wasn't raining anymore. They walked in silence until Kakashi decided to break it. "So Naruto… you never did tell me why you wanted get this mission done so early, today in particular."

Naruto seemed confused for a moment before realization flashed in his eyes. "Oh yeah, well, I promised myself that I would be there with Hinata-chan for our two-year anniversary, since I wasn't there the first time." He said with soft smile, thinking about his Hinata. That's right, _his _Hinata. A couple months after coming back from his trip with Jiraiya – or ero-sennin to him – he _finally _realized that 'Sakura-chan' didn't really care for him the same way he thought he cared for her. He thought that he loved her, but after a date with her, he noticed that his feelings for her were like a sister, not a lover. After he told Sakura of this development, she told him that he was like an older brother to her. A few weeks later, Hinata and Naruto could be seen walking together, and spending more time with each other. They've been together ever since.

A great ear-to-ear smile forms on Naruto's lip, seemingly out of the blue. Kakashi, noticing the smile, looks at confusedly. After a while of Naruto not explaining his sudden joy, Kakashi shrugs his shoulders going back to his book.

Naruto sobers a little thinking about _why_he wasn't there with her. Jiraiya had just found a lead on the Sound base that was said to have Sasuke in it. Tsunade sent a small team to go bring Sasuke back – ironically, the same team that was sent when Sasuke first left the village with the addition of Jiraiya himself as squad leader – and to possibly even kill Orochimaru. Both objectives were succeeded with Jiraiya almost having lost his arm when he went up against Orochimaru, but thanks to Naruto coming to help him at the last second, he was able to avoid that fate.

Everyone was hurt on that mission, having sported several new scars thanks to Orochimaru's old lackeys. Even with his abnormal healing from the fox, Naruto was still bedridden in the hospital for a few days, and wasn't at 100% until almost a week after being discharged from the hospital.

Shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts, Naruto turned forward seeing a dim light. Recognizing it as the light from Ichiraku's Ramen shop, Naruto decides a small snack wouldn't hurt anyone. As if on cue, his stomach growled something fierce.

Kakashi, upon hearing the growling, lowered his book from where he had put it so he could read. Taking a glance at Naruto, he follows his eyes to the ramen shop. Deciding that now was a time for celebration, he walked ahead of Naruto, urging him to follow after him. Naruto didn't need any other tempting after he noticed to where Kakashi was taking him. Naruto walks faster so that he could be side-by-side with him.

"How is the moving coming along?" Kakashi asks out of the blue, still reading his book.

Naruto being surprised by the question takes a moment to respond, "It's going good. It didn't take as long as it would have though, because of the Kage bushin I made to help with the packing."

Nodding his head, Kakashi asked, "Do you and Hinata already have all of your things?"

"Yeah, but everything is still in the storage scrolls. I might be able to make extra spacious sealing scrolls thanks to the training with ero-sennin, but that doesn't mean I don't have to put the items stored away like everyone else. And Hinata being adamant about us putting the things away ourselves doesn't help much." grumbled an irate Naruto.

Kakashi had to chuckle at that, as both he and Naruto ducked their heads under the awnings of Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. With a semi-loud shout from Naruto – as a normal shout from Naruto would have waken half the village – the staff of Ichiraku ramen was alerted to their presence. The sound of two voices simultaneously yelling 'Naruto-kun!' backed up that thought.

Looking behind the counter, Naruto saw both Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku. Teuchi hadn't changed much in the last few years, save the extra grey hairs on his head. Ayame seemed to have stayed the same also, except for a few differences in her appearance. Her brown hair having grown out, this could be seen now because she doesn't have it in a bun at the moment. She has grown taller herself, her eyes reaching Naruto's nose. The light blush, and happy smile she got from seeing Naruto only adding on to her natural beauty. She would be a great catch for any guy, but for some reason she seems to still be single.

Naruto stalks toward his favorite stool, plopping down on it with a soft thud. A shift in the air alerts him of Kakashi sitting down next to him. While grinning his Foxy Smile up at Ayame – who when seeing the smile, blushed lightly – Naruto gave his order of miso pork ramen, with Kakashi ordering a beef ramen. Seeing that Ayame was blushing under his gaze, he turned toward Kakashi so that she wouldn't need to be embarrassed any longer.

Naruto knew why she was blushing. He wasn't the same little kid he was before, but he didn't want to lead her on. It's no secret that he and Hinata are together – and have been together for two years now – but some people still have trouble accepting the thought of him and Hinata being together. He cared for Ayame, and subconsciously he knew that she was the type of person that he could love, but he loved Hinata. With her soft smile, caring personality, her quiet laugh, the way she blushes when he looks at her like that… in many ways she was just like Hinata, but he just couldn't return the feelings she had for him.

When Naruto saw Kakashi was preoccupied with his book, he had to let out of low groan; Kakashi and his damned book. _'Don't even know why he likes that book so much. It's not that good.' _Shaking his head slightly from that thought, he looks down to his cloak pocket slowly, seeing the outline of a small box in it.

Naruto let his mind wander once more. Thinking back on the mission that he was just on, Naruto let his thoughts roam toward what he did just before he and Kakashi reached Konoha.

* * *

_Flashback_

Naruto and Kakashi have been running for about two days now, with Naruto running ahead of Kakashi. They finished their mission in record time, having finished an S-class infiltration mission in little less than two weeks, when it would normally take three to four weeks for a mission of that magnitude to be done.

They were still roughly a day or so from Konoha at their current pace; both having decided not to wear their masks' (Kakashi still had his facemask on though.). Naruto had told Kakashi before they were even a mile away from Konoha how important it was for them to return to from this mission quickly. Naruto didn't tell _why_ it was so important, but that's neither here nor there.

Kakashi quickly noticed that Naruto stopped on one of the tree branches and he did the same, narrowly managing to avoid bumping into Naruto in his haste. Naruto noticing that he stopped so abruptly had to give a sheepish laugh while rubbing the back of head. Shaking his head from his ex-student's mannerisms, he asked why they had stopped.

Naruto stopped his laughing for a moment, in lieu of looking at the ground. "Well… the things… I sort of need to make a quick stop at Tanzaku Gai, hehe… "Feeling more than seeing Kakashi's blank look, he continued. "You see… before we left I sent a clone to go there and make an order for something… and since its been about two weeks now… it should be ready by now, so…" Seeing where this was going, Kakashi gave a small sigh and gave Naruto an exaggerated look. "And here I was thinking you wanted to get back to Konoha right away… _sigh_" Kakashi muttered to himself.

Naruto looked up from the ground toward Kakashi, a smile working up to his face. "Alright! Let's get going then sensei." With that, Naruto began running toward Tanzaku Gai with Kakashi running beside him.

After a few minutes of running in silence Kakashi stated, "You know Naruto, I'm not your sensei anymore; you don't have to call me that." Naruto shot him a confused look for a moment then grinned widely. "I know, but old habits die hard, sensei." Kakashi let out an exaggerated sigh, with Naruto chuckling at his sigh. They continued the rest of the way there in silence.

Upon landing in the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai, Naruto took the lead once more, with Kakashi moving swiftly behind him. Naruto was moving with a purpose toward the northern section of the large city.

Landing outside of a small building Naruto continued through the door without stopping, with Kakashi still right behind him. What Kakashi saw made him take a brief glance around the building. Everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by jewelry. All types of jewelry too, from necklaces, to bracelets, and everything in between.

The light shining down on the jewelry seeming to make them shine with an almost unearthly glow, making the room almost seem to be radiating from all the light being reflected from the jewelry; the tan, almost white, walls adding on to the other-worldly glow.

Kakashi quickly located Naruto by the counter, and walked over to stand next to him – as he had stopped walking while he was subtly gawking – looking to see what it is that Naruto was doing. What he saw made him let out an inaudible gasp.

In a small black box, in front of Naruto was a ring. Not just any ring, but an engagement ring. The fact that it was a wedding ring wasn't what made Kakashi gasp, but what it looked like. It was a silver band ring, with small intricate marks running along the outside of the ring. There was a circle of diamonds, which sparkled happily in the light. In the center of circle of diamonds was a pale lavender gemstone, which seemed to have been made from the moon itself. From what he could see, the inside of the ring had engraved 'N & H', which could only mean 'Naruto and Hinata'.

When the box was abruptly closed, Kakashi looked up to see Naruto looking at him with a wide smile on his face that blinded him for a second; he gave his own smile. They were gone in a blur, leaving the shop owner to jump from their sudden disappearance.

_End flashback_

* * *

They had put on their masks' once they got near the village walls. Kakashi said it was something about protocol. Even though they took that detour, they hadn't stopped running after they left the shop; save for the breaks they took while running. This is why Naruto was so upset when they went to the Hokage Tower to report in. Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts when a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. Giving a quick glance to Kakashi, only to gain a sweat drop seeing him already done, placing his chopsticks over his bowl, bowing his head in thanks toward the two ramen chefs'.

With a soft mutter of 'itadakimasu', Naruto broke his chopsticks apart and began to eat his ramen. Being with Hinata had really taught him manners, since he never wanted to act like a pig in front of her. He ate slowly, as to not let any of the noodles or broth from the ramen to spill over the bowl.

Finishing his ramen, Naruto let out a happy sigh. He would usually eat much more than this, but with his stomach being bull of butterflies – from his recent thoughts about the ring – and being full off of ramen didn't really help him much. Placing his chopsticks beside his bowl, he grinned up at Ayame and her father.

Seeing their shocked looks, he chuckled slightly knowing why he was receiving such looks. "Don't have much of an appetite today guys, hehe." He still got shocked looks – as even when he 'didn't have much of an appetite' he would still eat a minimum of ten bowls – but decided to ignore them for the time being.

Looking toward Kakashi, he saw him already standing from his stool with book unsurprisingly in hand. Glancing back at the counter, he saw that both his and Kakashi's bowls' were paid for. Naruto followed his example, waving toward the two ramen chefs. Receiving waves from both of them – and an enthusiastic 'come back soon' from Ayame – Naruto followed Kakashi out of the ramen bar.

Walking side-by-side with Kakashi, Naruto was lost in thought once more. Hearing his name being called, Naruto looked up toward Kakashi, who was saying something to him. He had enough time to catch the end of what Kakashi was saying, "...u'll ask?"

Seeing Naruto's confused look through his peripheral vision, Kakashi repeated, "I asked, when do you think you'll ask?" while nodding his head toward where Naruto was unconsciously clutching the small box through the fabric of his cloak.

Seeing the realization running through Naruto's eyes, he had to let out a small sigh.

"Well, I would have liked to have asked her during dinner at some restaurant, but I think there would be more meaning to it if I ask on our anniversary. I know doing it at a dinner would have been more romantic, but it would have been too cliché for my taste. Besides, I don't think it matters _how_ I ask, as long as I _do _ask, right?" Getting a shrug from Kakashi, Naruto let out a troubled sigh.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Hinata is sure to be happy either way." Kakashi stated.

"Yeah… I know, but I just- I don't know, I just don't want to mess this up. " Naruto replied, running a hand through his hair.

Placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, Kakashi gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about it too much. Like I said, I'm sure Hinata would be jumping over joy even if you horribly mess this up." Kakashi said giving Naruto his infamous eye smile. Face-faulting onto the ground, Naruto said in a sarcastic voice, "Yeah, thanks Kakashi. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime!" That was the cheeky reply from Kakashi. Naruto shook his head at the man, the smile on his face betraying him.

Looking around, he noticed that he was in front of Kakashi's apartment building. Kakashi too realizing where they were gave Naruto a serious look. "Really Naruto, don't worry too much about it. You'll do great." The smile being shown through his facemask, Kakashi enters his apartment building.

Naruto places his hands inside of his pockets, and began his trek home.

* * *

Naruto continued his silent walk toward his home. He and Hinata had decided not too long ago, to buy their own home. Well, _buy_ is the wrong term, they had it _made_. Being friends with a shinobi who could make wood with a few hand seals had its perks. They both wanted to be away from the village, so they got the okay from the Hokage to build their home on the training ground Naruto used to learn the Rasenshuriken. They had Yamato – since it was still weird calling him Tenzo – remake a waterfall, since the original was cut in half by Naruto during his elemental manipulation training with Kakashi and Yamato.

They didn't want a huge home, but they wanted a moderate sized home. Since he and Hinata hadn't really talked about having kids yet, he didn't know how many rooms they would need so they started with four; they designed the home so that it would be a simple task to add on more rooms. They just knew they wanted their own family. On the thought about family, he once again clenched on the box in his pocket.

Feeling the box in his hand, he let a smile slip on his face. He was going to propose to the woman he loved. He stopped at that thought. _'I'm going to propose…'_ His eyes widened once more, the smile on his face stretching across his face. _'I'm going to propose to Hinata-chan!' _The wide smile on his face was almost blinding.

Naruto walked toward his home with renewed determination. He always knew that he wanted to marry Hinata, and now he was going to do just that. Okay, so he wasn't going to marry her _yet_, but they'll be engaged and that's pretty damn close.

He noticed then that he had begun to run at some point. In his rush to see Hinata, he had begun to run. _'Why am I still going so slowly? I have to go see my future-wife!' _With that thought, Naruto's body blurred moving at high speeds toward his home.

He was renowned in the village for his speed. It was one of the reasons he decided to enter the Anbu. Well, the Stealth and Assassination squad anyways. He might have been a ninjutsu powerhouse, but his true calling was in assassination.

Learning to move stealthily with a 'kill-me' orange jumpsuit wasn't one of his favorite memories, but it was well worth it. On his training trip with Jiraiya, it was almost mandatory to be able to make yourself unseen from all the things Jiraiya made him do.

Naruto was practically made for being fast. He took to the shunshin like a fish to water. Since he had learned it on his training trip, he's since then made four variants, and he's been able to master them to the point of not needing any hand seals to boot. Now, even though he's considered a master at the shunshin, he rarely has to use it. His normal speed it enough to make people _think _it's a shunshin. Hell, he was even able to beat Rock Lee without his weights! Okay, so it's not exactly fair that he's been using a Forbidden training method since he started his trip with Jiraiya to get that speed, but details, who needs 'em?

He slowed his running to a walk when he reached the door of his house. Not skipping a beat, he bite his finger making blood flow down from it. Swiping the bloody digit over a seal concealed by a strong genjutsu – he had to remember to thank Kurenia for that – the blood going over the genjutsu didn't even disrupt it.

The door clicked open, and he walked inside of his house; having shut the door when he of a clan house, it was a very quaint four-bedroom home, just big enough for a couple wanting to start a family. It was a very homey place with leather furniture and wood floors, a fireplace, and a larger-than-average kitchen.

Taking the small box into his right hand, Naruto shrugged off his cloak, letting it slide down his shoulders. Hanging the cloak in a on a small hanger by the entryway, he shuffles past the kitchen; not noticing the sake bottles lying around on the table.

Still bubbling with excitement, Naruto walks past the downstairs guest room, then the downstairs bathroom and up the stairs toward the second floor. Seeing the door to his bedroom in view, he walks towards it quicker. Although he was moving faster, he still made no sound at all when he walked. Walking past the two other guest bedrooms, and the upstairs bathroom, he notices an oddly familiar smell wafting through the air.

Nearing the door, he begins hearing oddly muffled sounds. He also notices that the smell seems to be coming from his room. Tilting his head to the side in confusion, he gets a hold of the doorknob, turning it and opening the door.

"Hey Hin…" Naruto stops his sentence, getting a knot in his throat from what he sees before him.

There, lying on their bed was Hinata. That isn't what made him stop though. The problem is that she isn't in the bed alone. Behind her – with their arm around her waist – was a brown-haired man that looks vaguely like Kiba. Naruto could see the sweat glazing over their body, and he dully notes what the smell from before was.

Hinata opens her sleep filled eyes upon hearing the door creaking open and the sound of someone by the doorway. She couldn't see who it was, but she knew that they had blond hair. In fact, she thought it looked a lot like Naruto, _'But Naruto is right here…'_ feeling the arm around her waist. She still couldn't think straight in her current state.

She decided she would show this imposter for whom he was, and had turned her head to look over her shoulder when she noticed something. _'Naruto doesn't have brown hair…' _She looks down at his face, expecting to see the three whisker marks of her love, but she was confused to see two red triangles instead, which definitely weren't Naruto's. With her sake-induced haze slowly but surely leaving her mind, she was able to piece things together. _'If Naruto doesn't have brown hair… and those red marks… then who is…?' _The answer came to her like a ton of bricks. _'Kiba! But if this is Kiba… who is…' _Her eyes widened at her realization, and her head turned so fast she thought she might have cracked her neck.

Naruto didn't know how long he was standing there for with his hand on the doorknob, staring at what was in front of him, but he knew that he had to get out of there. Letting his hand slip off of the doorknob, he turned his back on the room, making his way to the stairs. He felt a sting in his eyes, but he decided to ignore it.

Hinata saw Naruto turning and walking away from the room, and tried to get up to go after him, but the arm around her waist wouldn't let her. Getting out of the grasp, she noticed her current state of dress, and let out a gasp. She was _naked_, and a quick glance at Kiba confirmed that he was too. Quickly getting off the bed, stumbling for a moment because of the headache said had, and locating her bathrobe handing by the corner, she raced out of the room running after Naruto.

She kept repeating the same mantra over and over in her head, _'Oh god, oh god, oh god,' _not wanting to wrap her mind around what she thinks she's done. She couldn't have done what she thinks she did, right? She wouldn't- no, _couldn't _have done that. It was all a big mistake. Yeah, that's what it was; a mistake. There was definitely a reason for Kiba being in her bed naked, which had nothing to do with having sex, right? Her heart dropped with the thought, and she redoubled her speed to catch up to Naruto.

When she saw him, he was putting his cloak back on with his back toward her. She heard herself yell his name, but he didn't seem to hear her. Hinata quickly threw herself on his back, but he didn't stop putting on his cloak. "Naruto! Naruto! Please Kami, Naruto listen to me!" Her frantic voice was becoming shaky.

Naruto walked to the door – with Hinata still on his back – and opened it. Pausing at the door frame for a moment, he roughly pushed Hinata off of his back; with her stumbling back away from him. He turned his eyes toward her, staring at her for the moment, the box in his hand having dropped, forgotten on the ground.

What Hinata saw made her gasp. The normally happy, loving cerulean blue eyes of her Naruto's eyes were now a freighting cold blue. A blue so cold it made the arctic seem like a warm summer day in Suna. His cold eyes staring at her, she couldn't stop herself from shivering at the look. The tears streaming down his cheeks made her heart break. She turned her tear-filled eyes to the small box black box he let drop from his hand. When she looked back up to him, he was gone.

After standing there in the entrance of her home for Kami knows how long, staring at the place where Naruto had just recently been. Hinata dropped to her knees and let her tears stream down from her eyes. Her eyes picked out the small black box Naruto let drop, and crawled to it.

With shaky hands, she reached toward the box. Holding the small box in her hand, she opened it slowly. What she saw made her bawl on the floor louder. In the small black box was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen; from the intricate design running along the outside of the ring, to the diamonds circling the pale lavender gem in the middle. What really made her cry though, were the words printed on the inside of the top half of the box. In big bold letters, were the words '**Marry Me**', with a picture of a chibi-her and a chibi-Naruto holding hands while kissing.

She held the small box tightly in her hands; hugging it closely to her heart. That night, the sound of her cries echoed down the halls of the house.

* * *

There. I know some people are going to be mad at me for writing this, but whatever. This isn't meant to be a Bash!Fic, just something that I've been thinking about. Let me know if you think I should continue you this or not. Until then, peace!


	2. Chapter 2

I'd like to take the time to thank Kingkakashi, because it was his review that helped give me the last preverbal push I needed to get this chapter finished. I appreciate all of the reviewers for this story and would like to send my thanks to you all.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise, with the birds singing their song to the world. A gentle breeze blowing over the whole village, causing leaves to blow from the branches in which they were made. The early risers were waking up now to see the sun rise, street venders preparing their stands for the oncoming day, shouts of 'youth' being heard out in the distance.

Watching all of this with emotionless blue eyes was none other than Naruto Uzumaki; sitting atop the Yondaime head on the Hokage Monument, in a meditation stance. This is where he went whenever he needed to think about things, and what he saw in his home was definitely something that he needs to think about.

All of the times that they were together, all the things they said to each other… was it all a lie? Did she really love him? Wasn't she happy? He just didn't understand! Why would she do something like that? Did she think he wouldn't find out? Everything was going so well… they just moved into their new house, he had just gotten into the ANBU, he was going to ask her to marry him, and they were even thinking about having kids! Why would she do something like this? Why? Why?! WHY?! It just didn't make sense. These were the thoughts roaming through Naruto's head.

Though he was having these troubling thoughts, on the outside he was the epitome of calm; just like he was trained. _'Don't give your enemies anything over you', _that was something he learned in his time with Jiraiya. He couldn't let anyone find a weakness in him. He will get through this like he gets through everything else… _'…even if she broke my heart.'_

With his eyes locked on the village, Naruto began to get out of his stance. He still had to meet with Tsunade and his new commander; it wouldn't look too good if he was late on his first day as ANBU. With that thought, Naruto began getting up from his place on the ground. Hearing a sound behind him, he turns his head to look over his shoulder. Looking for the sound, Naruto catches something in the field of his peripheral vision.

On the trunk of large tree, was a heart with what seemed to have letters carved inside of it. Seeing the heart, Naruto clenches his fist; instantly remembering when it was made and the actions leading up to what had it made.

* * *

_Flashback_

A sixteen year old Naruto could be seen hidden under a bush behind the Hyuuga Mansion. Now, I know what your thinking, "How would someone be able to hide from the Byakugan? They would be caught immediately!" (At times like this, I could simply pull out the 'writer card' on you, and that would be the end of that, but that wouldn't be fair, so I won't do that to you.) The reason is simple, being good friends with a Branch member, and the boyfriend of the heir, you're bound to learn a thing or two about the patrol patterns. For example, the guards usually begin their patrols on the East side of the manor, and then move to the West side; which is good, because Hinata's room is on the West side of the manor.

He also found out that the Hyuugas have a policy about using the Byakugan when they're on patrols, something about not wanting the Branch members to get too lax on their duties. The Hyuuga council wanted them to stay watchful at all times or whatever. How that made sense, don't ask him. Wasn't the point of patrols to keep out intruders? If so, wouldn't the ability to look through solid objects and having a field of vision that is almost 360 degrees good? Either way, it makes his job all the more easier.

Naruto quietly jumped from his hiding place toward the wall. Upon landing on the wall, he quickly glues himself to it with chakra. Scaling the wall in a few steps, he jumps on the small balcony that led to Hinata's room; ducking down on the balcony when he thought he heard something under him.

After waiting for about two minutes, he gets back up from the ground. Looking over the balcony Naruto sees the Branch member walking away from it. Being thankful for his good timing, he turns toward the door. Knocking softly on the glass, he waits in anticipation for Hinata to open with his head turning this way and that.

Not three seconds after he finished knocking, he was pulled into the room by a small hand. Once he was completely inside of the room, the same hand that pulled him inside was now covering his mouth. Naruto immediately began to struggle against his captor, but a soft whisper of 'be quiet' ended his struggles. After a minute or so, the hand was removed from his mouth and was replaced with a soft pair of lips.

Shocked at first that he was being kissed, when he noticed it was his Hinata-chan, he kissed back with as much passion as she was giving. They broke off the kiss a moment later when the need to breath became priority. Hinata looks up to Naruto – seeing as he was taller than her – and asks in her quiet voice, "What are you doing here Naruto-kun?" her stuttering having stopped after being exposed to Naruto for so long.

Looking into those beautiful lavender eyes that he loved so much, Naruto couldn't help but blush lightly. He wasn't blushing because he was embarrassed of the kiss or anything – this is nothing compared to what they've done before – but he couldn't help but notice that Hinata was pressing her body up against his. Oh, and her only having a see through gown has nothing to do with it. Nope; that didn't have anything to do with it.

Hinata – upon noticing Naruto blushing – leans her head to the side confusedly. Then noticing their position and her current state of dress, she gives off a low 'eep' and rushes to her bathroom that was connected to her room. When Naruto was finally able to get out of his stupor, he walked over to the bathroom. Knocking softly on the wood – as to not be heard – he calls out for Hinata.

"Hinata-chan?"

Hearing shuffling in the bathroom, Naruto gives her a moment. A few seconds after Hinata walked out her bathroom with a bathrobe over her body. Noticing the change of clothing, Naruto couldn't help but think, _'…damn it.'_ Shaking his head, he gives Hinata his Foxy Smile he knows she likes so much – the blush she gets confirming that.

"You need to get ready Hina-chan." Naruto said, still smiling.

"Get ready for what Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, blush increasing at his nickname for her.

"Heh, it's a surprise."

Hinata couldn't help but smile at that. She always loved his surprises. The last time he said he had a 'surprise' for her was when he painted the Hokage Monument with 'Happy Birthday Hinata-chan!' How he was able to get paint that didn't come off with the snow, she may never know.

"Okay Naruto-kun, just let me take a shower first."

Giving Naruto a bright smile, Hinata walked past him to her dresser. Opening one of her drawers, she received what she needed and closed it back up. Opening another of the drawers she got the cloths she was going to wear for the day; which consisted of: her blue nin-pants, her mesh undershirt and a lavender sleeveless shirt. She replaced the jacket for the shirt because she could tell that today was going to be a warm day, and because she secretly liked Naruto's reaction – since she knew he loved to see her without her jacket.

Once she was ready to go, a quick kiss from Naruto, a 'you look beautiful', and a healthy blush from Hinata later, they quickly snuck out the room. Leaving the mansion was a simple ordeal. After they were out of the estate, they took to the rooftops.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Naruto noticed that the sun was almost up. Glancing over at Hinata, seeing she is still in mid air after having kicked off the last roof, he moves towards her. Scooping her up mid-flight, Naruto holds her tightly to his chest, bridal style, and speeds up. All that Hinata was able to do was blush and enjoy the ride.

After they landed, Hinata opened her eyes – seeming to have been dosing off again, seeing how it was still early in the morning. Noticing that they were high above the village, Hinata subconsciously wraps her arms tighter around Naruto's neck, causing him to choke slightly.

Hearing the choking sound, Hinata let go of her death grip on him, and lets him put her down. Once her feet hit the ground, she was immediately blinded by Naruto's hands. She felt him pushing her forward a bit, her body tensing out of reflex. Knowing that Naruto wouldn't let anything happen to her, she kept herself calm – relaxing her body – and allowing Naruto to lead her. Even though Hinata couldn't see anything – a strange feeling, especially when used to the vision given by the Byakugan – and she knew she was very vulnerable at this state, she couldn't help but feel safer than she's ever been before.

Feeling Naruto's breath on the back of neck only caused her knees to get weak. She knew that Naruto was trying to do something special for her, but she couldn't help but become a bit anxious. She knew, she _knew, _that he knew what he was doing to her. Hinata could practically feel the smile after all. Pouting her lips out, she continued following his directions.

After a few feet, she came to a complete stop and felt Naruto's lips on hers. Kissing him back softly, she began to push up on him once more. Feeling him smile into the kiss, she moved her head back, still feeling hands over her eyes. Hinata could hear Naruto walking away from her and then coming to a stop and since her eyes were still being covered, she had reason to believe he was using a shadow clone.

Sometimes she couldn't help but hate that technique. Don't get her wrong, the technique is extremely useful; since she's been with Naruto, she was able to see many _other _uses for the shadow clones. She takes that back, she doesn't hate the technique, she hates how good Naruto has gotten with the technique. He just recently mastered it to the point of not needing any more hand seals, and before that he was able to make the clones forego the usual 'poof' and make them just materialize.

Feeling the disturbance in the air behind her and having the ability to open her eyes, Hinata knew that was her cue to do just that. Blinking from her blurry vision, she couldn't help but get hearts in her eyes immediately after she could see what Naruto had done.

In front of her was the most romantic picnic she's seen (so far). At the foot of a tree, was a giant picnic that was surrounded by a number of white rose petals; Hinata blushes because she knows that white roses mean a number of things, and love was one of them. The beauty of the picnic was increased by the sunrise, with its glow seeming to light up everything it touches. At the trunk of the tree at which the picnic was set up there was a carving of a heart; the initials 'N.U. + H.H.' were carved inside of the heart. Later on '4 ever' will be carved in next to it by Hinata.

Naruto saw the look in her and he couldn't help but laugh sheepishly. The next thing he knew he was tackled to the ground. It's safe to say the picnic wasn't touched for a long while.

_End Flashback_

* * *

Turning his head from the heart, Naruto suppressed his memories and his emotions like he was trained to do. Not being able to stand being in this place anymore, Naruto places his ANBU Fox mask; just in time to hide the tear that he let fall down his face.

Getting his composure back, Naruto disappeared from the Hokage Monument in a faint burst of wind.

* * *

The sun shined through the open door of the Naru/Hina Home; hitting the face of a young woman still laying helplessly on the ground, known as Hinata. Feeling the warm sun tickling her face, Hinata opened her eyes. Blinking away her blurry vision, Hinata rubbed her eyes to get the crust off. Sitting up from her place on the ground with a tired expression did nothing to stop the headache she had.

Tilting her head at the open front door; she couldn't remember what happened last night to cause her to be sleeping on the ground with the door open. Hinata got up on wobbly legs – the feeling familiar but at the same time, it wasn't. Closing the door when she was close enough, Hinata walked over to the kitchen, the small black box forgotten on the floor.

Ignoring the sake bottles on her table, she walked over to get a glass of water. Filling the glass with water from the tap, Hinata began drinking. The memories from last night flashed in her head with a surreal vengeance. Dropping the glass once she remembers what happened, she rushed to the door for the only proof she needed to know it was true.

And sure enough, there on the floor, was the small black box in which her engagement ring was held. Picking up the box and holding it in her hands, Hinata let the tears stream down her face. She felt dirty. She couldn't believe that she had done that. Although she knew she wasn't the only one to blame, she felt as if it was solely her fault.

If she wouldn't have taken those bottles, if she would have sent Kiba home before he offered… if she hadn't– Hinata couldn't even finish the thought.

Walking toward the stairs with her head looking to the ground; Hinata couldn't stop the tears from going down her face.

* * *

The light streaming from the window hit his face. Muttering a faint curse to the light, Kiba turned away from it. Still being hit with the annoying light, he places a pillow over his head trying to block the light from getting to him. Sighing at the fact that was already awake, he threw the pillow from his face.

Sitting up from his laying position, he takes in his surroundings. His body tenses when he couldn't remember where he was. Feeling the breeze over his naked body from the window made everything come back to him in a blur. Kiba took in his surroundings once again, taking note of the cloths randomly thrown throughout the room. He wasn't able to keep the smile off his face. Kiba lies back down on the bed with his hands behind his head. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be to sleep with Hinata. He just had to get her really, _really,_ drunk.

He knew that Naruto wouldn't be home today, since he had that mission with Kakashi to get into ANBU. Kiba knew how hard they could be, especially since he didn't make it when he tried to get into ANBU. Since ANBU was out of the question for him, Kiba had to go on to something else – being a normal Jounin wasn't good enough for him. He ended up joining the Hunter-nin division. With his enhanced sense, Kiba had no problem getting into it.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he turns his head when he hears soft footsteps; seeing Hinata in only her bathrobe only did nothing to make his smiling cease. In fact, it only helped to make the smile grow wider.

"How'd you sleep?" Kiba couldn't help but give her an arrogant smirk.

"Get out." was the simple reply.

Kiba was barely able to hear her, and that's saying something with this hearing being as good as it is. He was confused at her response. The way she said it was so _cold_. It was almost as if she regretted what she did with him.

"Huh?" was Kiba's intelligent reply.

"Get. Out."

By now, Kiba had lost his smile. He didn't know what was wrong with Hinata, but he knew he didn't like it.

"What do yo–"

"Get out, Kiba." Hinata interrupted.

Kiba gave her a small growl. He was really getting tired of her shit. She should be happy that she was able to get with him! Kiba smiled suddenly.

'_It's okay.' _Kiba thought,_ 'She doesn't know what she's saying. She's probably still a little messed up in the head. I'll come back later and she'll be all over me.' _with his smirk in place, Kiba got out of bed and began picking up his clothing. He deliberately moved slowly, so that Hinata could see what she was missing out on.

Not once during his little show did Hinata raise her head to look at him. She kept her gaze at the ground, still clenching down tightly on the small black box; the box which housed her engagement ring.

Hearing the rustle of clothing, she knew that Kiba had begun putting on his clothing, no doubt still moving slowly. After a few minutes of that, she finally heard him begin to walk toward her – since she was still in front of the door leading to the hallway. Feeling the wind shift when he walked past her, she had to suppress her gag reflex.

It didn't matter how long she had been his teammate for, that smell still got to her. Akamaru had the same smell, but at least he had a feasible reason to smell how he does. He _is_ a dog after all; smelling like wet dog shouldn't have been a big surprise, but Kiba didn't have that excuse. So what if his family trains in conjunction with dogs – doesn't mean he has to _smell _like one.

A darker part of Hinata's mind disagrees, exclaiming that Kiba is, in fact, a dog; especially after what he did to her last night. After he tricked her the way he did, after he got her drunk the way he did, after he– Hinata clenches her fist so hard she thought she her the small box in her hand break. She couldn't think about that right now. Hinata didn't know what she would do if she thought about it, especially since Kiba was so close… she didn't think she would be able to stop herself.

The sound of Kiba talking was easily ignored by the Hyuuga woman. Hinata didn't know what he was saying, but she couldn't find it in herself to care; all she knew was that she wanted him to leave – and leave soon.

Right when she finished that thought, the sound of Kiba walking down the stairs could be heard. Hinata strained her hearing for a moment, trying to figure out what he was doing based on sound alone. She might not have Kiba's – or Naruto's for that matter – hearing, but it was still pretty damn good. Hinata remembered the times that Naruto would spend days trying to increase her natural senses. He would say that since her eyesight was so good, why couldn't her other sense be just as good; granted she has the Byakugan, but that's beside the point.

Hearing the soft click of the door closing ringing softly through the house alerted Hinata to the fact that Kiba has left. Having that in mind, Hinata finally allowed herself to run to get rid of the bathrobe and run to the adjoined bathroom.

Blasting on the hot water, Hinata didn't even wait until the water actually began to get warm to rush inside. Hinata couldn't help herself; she felt so _dirty_. With the knowledge that some other man had touched her – caressed her – made Hinata scrub herself silly. She just couldn't wrap her mind around what she had done. She was in bed with someone other than her Naruto; the thought made a cold chill run up her spine, heedless of the warm water raining down on her.

'_Naruto.'_ Hinata thought fondly. How was he taking it? What did he think of her? All of these thoughts were roaming through her mind now. _'Does he still love me?' _The answer scared her. What if he didn't? What if he couldn't stand to be with her anymore? What if he left her? The answers to these questions made her feel so cold. She no longer cared about the water showering down on her; it did nothing to warm her body.

Hinata felt herself beginning to break down in tears again. The way he left last night only reinforced the thought of him leaving her. His eyes said it all. The eyes that looked straight through her and into her soul. The eyes that were usually so full of life were so lifeless at that moment.

Hinata slowly slide down the shower walls to the wet ground. Hinata's body began to curl itself up into the fetal position; the water showering over her small form. Everything in the bathroom was still, the only movements coming from the rippling of Hinata's body, which were overshadowed by her constant cries.

* * *

Two hours. _Two_ hours. He's been standing here for two _fucking_ hours. Naruto had to force himself not to let out an agitated growl. When he walked into the room, he had seen the Hokage sleeping soundly on her desk, and didn't want to wake her; so Naruto decided to wait.

…and wait…

…and wait.

So here he is, trying his hardest not to slip back into his old, juvenile, adolescent personaand prank her into next week. He knew that he shouldn't, but seeing the Hokage sleeping on her desk for a nice two hours could really make you think less and less about what is right and more about what color paint he should use.

He knows that she had work to do; hell, he's seen Shizune at least four times in the past hour alone. Naruto couldn't understand why she wouldn't be excited about doing her job. Alright, all things considered, paperwork sucks eggs, but knowing that you're responsible for so many people and that what you do and what you don't will affect the people under you would be more than enough incentive for Naruto to do paperwork; when he becomes Hokage, that is. For now, he still has time to trick Kakashi into doing all the reports – high-five to Icha Icha Paradise.

Sitting here for such a long time gave Naruto more than enough time to think about things, and that's something that he _didn't _want to do. He didn't want to think about what happened with Hinata, and Kiba, and the sounds… and what he saw… with Hinata… and Ki… ba…

Naruto had to clench his fists into tight balls to suppress the demonic chakra that was had flowed into him when he thought about those things. He had to get his mind off of that, or who knows what he'll end up doing. Calming down again, Naruto tried to think about something else besides that.

Like where the hell his captain was.

Naruto wasn't sure at what time Tsunade told the captain to be here, but he was damn well sure that no matter what time the captain should've been here by now. Maybe this was some kind of test. Yeah, a test to gauge him on his patience level. That had to be it… right?

Wrong.

Naruto found this out after another hour of waiting. He had sat there and decided to try meditating again, something he has been doing in recent years to help keep clear his head. That got old after the first thirty minutes. After that, he decided to read one of the many books in the Hokage office; Tsunade could very well become angry with him for reading one of the books in her office without permission, but the books were there to be read, right? By the fine layer of dust forming over the cover, it doesn't seem to be in much use, so what the hell; he had nothing better to do.

An hour and thirteen minutes later found an annoyed Naruto tapping his foot impatiently. He had finished the book – which was a modest 256 pages – and there was still no sign of his captain; hell, Tsunade still hadn't even gotten up yet! Which was ridiculous considering that it was basically noon.

Just as Naruto stood up to wake Tsunade, he was interrupted by a angry sounding noise; a noise that he was very familiar with; a disturbance that has brought countless people to their knees in agony; a series of frequencies which could force the coldest of hearts to whimper without shame.

The sound of Naruto's stomach growling.

In truth, it wasn't that bad but it was still pretty damn loud. It was loud enough, in fact, to cause the Godaime to rouse from her sleep. Tsunade sat up from her desk, wiping off a small amount of drool from her chin. Naruto watched as she yawned, with her arms above her head; unknowingly pushing the already strained material of her shirt to its absolute limit with her impressive bust. This sight was normally enough to send any man into a nose-bleed, but it could be argued that Naruto isn't normal by any stretch of the word. So he did something that was "normal" for him.

"What the hell Baa-chan?!"

Tsunade stopped, blinking her eyes when she noticed that someone else was in the room with her. Seeing that it was Naruto, she allowed her arms to rest at her sides again and asked Naruto, "What are you doing here?"

Naruto paused what he was about say at that. It took a moment for him to register what was said before he erupted. "What do you mean "what are you doing here"!? I'll tell you what I'm _supposed _to be doing! I'm _supposed _to be meeting my captain! You were _supposed _to be awake introducing us, but _nooooooooo_! You were sleeping so I thought, 'she's probably tired; I should let her rest'. And I did. For more than four damned hours! And then you just get up and ask me wha –

"Didn't you get the message?" the Hokage interrupted, surprised.

"What damned message?!"

"The message informing you that you wouldn't need to come in today since your captain was called away on a mission. I sent a messenger bird to your home late last night."

_

* * *

_

_Flashback_

Kiba groaned as he heard the sound of something scratching against the window. Snuggling his head deeper into the pillow, he tried to ignore the annoying sound. The sound continued though. Lifting his head from the pillow, his eyes still closed, Kiba tossed one the pillows at the window, thus scaring away the messenger bird.

Grinning stupidly at the silence, Kiba grabbed another pillow and went back to the bliss named unconsciousness.

Needless to say, the message was never delivered.

* * *

_End Flashback_

Tsunade assumed from the confused look on Naruto face, that he didn't get the message. She bridged her hands together in front of her face while leaning forward; giving Naruto a generous amount of cleavage. Again. Not that he noticed, that is.

"This doesn't change anything Naruto. Your captain still won't be here so you should just go home and maybe spend some time with Hinata. I know how happy she must be that you managed to get here in time for your anniversary." Tsunade said, smiling a bit at the end. She was one of the people who were lucky enough to see this relationship blossom from the very beginning and she couldn't begin to explain how happy she was to see them grow together. It reminded her of a time long past when she was with Dan and they were in love.

She escaped her thoughts just in time to catch the brief flash of pain that covered Naruto's face. It was gone not even a heartbeat later, causing her to believe that she was hallucinating.

"Haha, you're right Baa-chan. No use crying over spilled milk. I should get going. I was getting hungry anyways." chuckled out Naruto; suppressing the pang of hurt he felt when the Hokage mentioned Hinata.

Shaking her head, the Hokage began the paperwork for the day. She was already behind, if the position of the sun was correct, and she didn't want to have to pull an all-nighter. Again.

"I'll send a messenger for you when your captain arrives. Hopefully this time you'll actually get it," the sheepish chuckle was ignored, "until then, though, use this time to sharpen any of your skills for the meeting. You want to be at your best for whatever your captain may ask of you, so make sure that you're ready. That'll be all. Dismissed."

The mock solute from Naruto was lost to Tsunade as he neared the window; the shout of 'see'ya later Baa-chan!' on the other hand, was not. With that said, Naruto jumped out of the window; and not a second too late because a moment later and a pen would have impaled him through the skull.

"Narutooooooooo!"

The shout was heard all around the village and caused Naruto to run just a little faster to get away from his beloved 'baa-chan'.

* * *

Hinata stood in front of the hazy image of herself in the mirror. She didn't want to wipe it because that was how she currently felt about herself. She felt as if her image was distorted, as if she weren't seeing the real her, and in a way, she was right. The Hinata she knew would never be unfaithful to the man she loved, and the way that it happened was just sickening. Maybe she didn't outright go to another man on her free will, but she still allowed him to come in and talk her into drinking, even though he knew she didn't like to.

Naruto would always tease that she was a 'light-weight' when it came to drinking, but they both knew that he was joking. It seems, though, that it was because of her inability to hold her liquor.

She shook her head. _'I can't stay here wallowing in self-pity! I need to find Naruto and talk to him.'_ But what if he didn't want to talk to her? She always told him that she hated cheaters, and now that she has become what she's said she hated what will he think of her? Maybe she should just give him some tim– _'No! I won't let him be alone again! I'll go find him and make this better again!'_

Nodding to herself in the now cleared mirror, she set about readying herself for the day. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair, all the while preparing herself mentally for what may come. She has to be ready to handle anything, so she couldn't come up short. Not now.

Staring at the mirror, Hinata steeled her nerves for the things she may have to face today. Looking into her own eyes, she saw the determination that she so adored her Naruto for, and swore that she would make things right. Nodding, she prepared to exit the bathroom when a wave of nausea passed over her. Holding onto the wall to support her, she steadied her breathing and got it back under control. She didn't stay there for long though, because the next moment she was in her bedroom putting on cloths to find Naruto.

She wouldn't allow a silly little cold detour her from her goal.

* * *

Naruto walked through the crowded streets, with his hands in his pocket. Once he made it far away from the Hokage Tower, he decided to take it slow and walk the rest of the way to Ichiraku's.

Walking had its pros and cons. Pros: it lets you take in the scenery and enjoy the life that surrounds you. You're able to escape thought and simply take things in one step at a time. It was refreshing; especially stacked up against the fast-paced life that he as a shinobi lives. Naruto could almost pretend that he was nothing but a simple civilian and that he knew nothing of what the world really looks like inside these peaceful walls; pretend that he didn't have to worry about all of the problems that plaque him as a jinchuuriki.

Cons: the fan-girls.

At first, he didn't mind. He really enjoyed the attention and there were only a few women, so he didn't think too much about it. The fact that they were never as bad as he saw Sasuke's fan-girls was a plus. He was actually able to have a civil conversation with them. Hell, before he got with Hinata, he even dated a few of them! But as he became stronger and his exploits became well known, it was harder and harder to find girls that he could actually talk to.

They started becoming more aggressive in their attempts to get with him and he began staying away from them. That was around the time that he and Hinata got together, so you could imagine how upset they were then.

As the years past, he thought that they would stop their attempts at him, but alas, that didn't come to pass. So he tried to distance himself from them, since he didn't want to give them any ideas with him being with Hinata and all. They actually became even more aggressive, seeing as they saw his attempts to get away from them as playing hard to get.

This mainly only happened with the civilian girls, but that doesn't mean the kunoichi were exempt. It was actually even more awkward when the women ninja fought for his attention because they would be much more… forceful about it.

It wasn't abnormal to see a tournament going on to between the kunoichi populace to see who would win a date with 'Naruto-kun'. The tournament was scheduled to happen twice a year. It was agreed that the winner of the tournament would be able to court Naruto without the interference of the other fan-girls and get a date with him.

Never mind the fact that Naruto never agreed to this.

It was interesting to see the women that would actually go and participate in those fights. A number of people that he knew would actually try and fight their way into his heart. There have been times when there were women that Naruto didn't even know! Then there were those awkward times when civilians would join and try to beat the ninja. Needless to say a civilian never won, but it was interesting to see none-the-less.

A good thing that came from these fights was that it forced the girls that didn't train to do so. If they have the villages best interest in mind could be debatable; but what couldn't be were the results. Ever since the tournaments began, the Hokage has seen a surprising rise in the women ninjas' skill level. They are working harder and taking their training more seriously. Some of them even decided to join the med-nin program at the hospital, because they thought that Naruto liked skilled medical ninja. They tried their hardest to become successful because they noticed that for many years Naruto proclaimed his 'love' for his teammate, Sakura, and his current love, Hinata, who had both become medics on par with Tsunade. The only reason that she allows them to continue their little tournaments is because her dream of having a medic on every team was coming to pass.

It surprised him that Hinata never worried about these tournaments. I mean, who wouldn't? When you see dozens of women training and fighting to get a chance with your man, you'd think that she would at least be a little worried; but not Hinata. She would even sometimes drag him along so that he could see them fight. When he asked why, she would always say, 'I have nothing to worry about.' he took that as meaning that she would never let another woman get their hands on him, but now he's thinking that maybe she didn't care because she had a boyfriend number two on the side the whole time.

Naruto shook his head. Hinata may have… done what she did, but she never lied about her feelings for him. At least, he thought she didn't. The events of last night taught him that maybe she didn't love him as much as he thought she did. That thought didn't make the hollow feeling where his heart used to be throb with a perpetual feeling of pain.

Nope, not at all.

He could still remember the day they first proclaimed their love for each other. It was the day of her 18th birthday. They just finished a nice dinner at the Golden Leaf restaurant, Konoha's number one eating establishment, and were taking a walk around one of the local parks. After they arrived, they sat down on one of the snow covered benches and spoke. In their little talk, the topic of how they felt about each other came up and they ended up telling one another of the love they held. They left the park for Naruto's apartment where they spent the night displaying their love for each other.

Naruto could still remember the sounds that Hinata made as they made love:

'_A-ah... Naru-kun...'_

'…_mm...'_

'_Y-yes! Harder!'_

'…_aster! Please, go faster!'_

'_I-I'm cu…!'_

'_Nar_uto!"

Naruto flinched a bit when he heard someone calling his name right into his ear. He turned his head to find a red-faced Sakura about ready to yell his name again.

"Naru–" Sakura was quieted down by a finger pressing down on her lips.

"I got it Sakura. No need to blow my ear out." Naruto chuckled, making an over exaggerated show of sticking a finger into his ear, wiggling it about for emphasis.

Shaking off the finger from her lips, Sakura prepared to ram her fist into his skull but he was able to dodge the blow last minute, laughing the whole time. After a few more failed attempts at getting him, Sakura finally let up with a small huff. Naruto, seeing that she was done, stepped next to her and motioned for her to walk with him.

"So," he began, his hands resting behind his head, "how's the bastard doing?"

Sakura flinched and began to straighten out non-existent creases from her shirt – a nervous habit of hers. "He's doing… better. The medicine Tsunade-sama prescribed to him is helping a bit, but he needs to get out of that house." Naruto nodded mutely, urging her to continue. "Medicine could only do so much; if he doesn't get out and socialize with other people… he may just become completely crazy."

Naruto didn't say a word. He simply leaned his head back and stared at the sky. When they went on that mission and got Sasuke back, they thought that was all there was to it. But they were wrong. It seemed that at the time, Orochimaru's curse seal was slowly but surely taking control over Sasuke's mind. When they finally killed Orochimaru, the curse seal went with him and the damage caused by the abrupt removal of the seal caused Sasuke to go slightly mad.

Sasuke has gone through a series of rehabilitation sessions, and was able to get rid of most of his madness. Thankfully, since he wasn't completely off the deep end, Tsunade and the other medics were able to bring him back to normal, but the damage was still done. After the first days of his return, Sasuke was prone to attack anything that moved. Tsunade was forced to put him under house arrest with limited exposure to the 'outside world'. Sakura and Naruto were some of the only people who interacted with him, and seeing as the last time Naruto saw him was about a month ago, you could see that he didn't see many people.

Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto. She almost couldn't believe that this was the same Naruto that would do anything for a date with her. This Naruto was so… different. Not only was this Naruto different physically – boy was he different physically – but he was also different mentally. He was no longer the dead-last loser of the academy. In fact, it could be argued that he was the strongest of their generation. (And that's saying something when you take into account all of the heirs that were in their class.)

He wasn't the clown of the group anymore. Some may say that it was Hinata that caused this change for the better, but Sakura would argue differently. Sure, Hinata may have rubbed off on Naruto – in more ways than one – but that doesn't explain this change in him. The way that he carries himself demands respect. His personality is so easy-going and open; one would be hard-pressed to _not _become his friend.

And his eyes. Sweet Kami his eyes. Those eyes that have seen much more than what someone his age should see; the friendly eyes that belied the fact that he had a horrible childhood. Sakura snorts, thinking to herself, _'Look at me, I'm talking about him as if I'm some sort of love-struck school girl. I need to focus.'_

Shaking her head from her thoughts, Sakura notices that she is no longer walking with Naruto. Turning around, she sees that he is just standing there, with his arms at his sides. The most troubling thing though, was the fact that his face was completely blank.

"Naruto…?" called out Sakura, while reaching out a hand to him.

* * *

Naruto stood there, staring straight ahead. He couldn't move eyes his from the man in front of him. There was Kiba, with biggest shit-eating grin that Naruto has ever seen. Now, it was normal to see Kiba with one of these grins, but Naruto knew why he had that grin.

Kiba thinks of what he did as some kind of game; as if he didn't know that he had ruined Naruto's life. His hands curled into fist. He knew that they were together – everyone knew! But Naruto just didn't understand. It was Kiba that first told Naruto of Hinata's affection for him; he was the one pushing Naruto to hang out with her; he was the one –

"– **who just fucked her." **

Startled, Naruto finally noticed where he was. He turned his head left and right, seeing the dank, dark walls of a sewer. Shifting his feet told Naruto that there was water pooled at his feet. Glancing forward, Naruto confirmed where he was with the sight of the ominous gate bars with the small paper seal locking it closed.

Naruto passed a hand through his hair with a sigh, regaining his composure. He couldn't let his emotions get the better of him, "What do you want, Kyuubi?"

"'**What do I want?'" **the fox snorted, **"It's not what I want; it's what **_**needs **_**to be done. You have to show that ningen who's Alpha – who leads the pack. You can't let him have his way with our mate without consequence!" **Kyuubi slammed its tails on the ground for emphasis.

Naruto stood his ground as the floor shook from the power of Kyuubi's strike against it, "Drop your Alpha-pack crap Kyuubi; I'm in no mood."

"**In no mood?" **mocked Kyuubi, **"You're in no mood? I couldn't care less even if Shinigami himself came to free me from this infernal cage! I will not allow some brain-dead, dog-loving **_**human**_** make a mockery out of us." **Kyuubi said; spitting out the word 'human' as if it were a curse. **"If you wish to do nothing, then do as you please. But **_**I **_**will make him pay for treading on our territory!" **

"I won't let you do anything to him, you bastard fox!" was the defiant yell from the blond.

'_**Interesting. I thought that he'd give into my chakra after I made him realize what that human did to him, but it seems I've underestimated him; I'll have to look for a different venue to work from.'**_

"**We'll see." **upon finishing his statement, the fox released a flood of his chakra.

Naruto was forced to jump back to escape the onslaught of chakra. The chakra weaved its way toward him, following after him as if it had a mind of its own. **"Just give up! Allow me to gain revenge for what that mongrel and that whore of a woman did to us!" **called out Kyuubi, summoning more of his chakra.

"Don't you dare ca—" Naruto had to jump to the side to avoid the red chakra, "—ll Hinata a—" he back-flipped to get away from more chakra, "—whore, you stupid fox!" Naruto jumped toward the wall; and not a moment too soon as a second later chakra flooded the area he was just standing.

'_**Gotcha.'**_

"**Oh?" **Kyuubi said, amused. It watched as Naruto kicked off the wall to land on a portion of the floor that wasn't covered in his chakra, only to start running again. **"So it is acceptable for women in your race to spread their legs for other men freely?" **Kyuubi watched as Naruto hesitated briefly, and narrowly managed to dodge a tendril of chakra.

Seeing the affect his talking was doing on Naruto, the fox decided to push further. **"She played with your emotions and you still try to protect her? Have some dignity!"** Naruto flinched while Kyuubi continued, **"They used you! You were a nothing but a toy to them!" **Kyuubi saw as a tendril of his chakra managed to get a hold of one of Naruto's legs. The fox smiled on as Naruto continued to fight against the pull of the chakra.

"**They don't care about you – **_**she **_**doesn't care about you; you were just someone they could use while screwing each other. You don't owe them anything!" **Naruto slowly stopped struggling against the pull of the malicious red chakra.

"B-but she said… she said she loved me…" whispered Naruto, past wounds opening up.

Kyuubi lowered its voice, recognizing that this may be the moment it had been waiting for. **"I know Naruto, but it was just a ploy. She didn't really care about you." **Naruto's shoulders slumped. **"Would someone who loved you do what she did?"**

"N-no…"

"**Then you know I'm right. You must seek revenge. You must show them that you're not someone to be trifled with. Show them that you don't need them – that you don't need her." **While Kyuubi was talking, it was slowly covering Naruto's body with its chakra. Sadness pushed down on Naruto's body, making him slump further than he already was. He kept his gaze on the ground, reviewing what the fox has been telling him.

The giant beast saw the sadness that blanketed Naruto's figure, and grinned viciously. _**'Good. Now, I just need the finishing touch…'**_

"**You need to get them back."**

Naruto turned his gaze away from the ground and toward the fox, "But h-how?" his voice cracking while looking up at the fox.

"**You must make them feel your pain… by any means."**

Naruto didn't say anything as he continued to watch the fox. Now, normally, he would've yelled his defiance to the Gods, but with his current state of mind and the blanket of chakra surrounding him, it was difficult to go against anything that the fox says.

"**You could start by making the **_**dog **_**hurt." **

Kyuubi flashed a few images of Kiba through Naruto's mind.

"**Make him pay for what he did." **

More images flashed through his head.

"**Make her pay for what she did."**

Now images of Hinata.

"**They hurt you." **

Images of both Hinata and Kiba.

"**Make them hurt." **

Naruto closed his eyes.

"**Hurt them."**

He saw images of last night.

"**Kill them…"**

Images of what they were doing.

"**Kill them."**

'_Hinata threw her head back in pleasure.'_

"**Kill them!"**

'_Ah… Kiba-kun…!'_

Red eyes snapped open.

* * *

As Sakura made her way back to Naruto, she saw as a myriad number of emotions passed through his face. She couldn't get a solid lock on what they were because they would change so quickly. She wondered to herself how someone could go through so many emotions in such a short amount of time. Sakura shook her head.

'_Something is obviously wrong. I need t—'_

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted when right as her hand had reached Naruto, red chakra flooded out of his body.

* * *

Kiba made his way down the street, with a huge grin on his face. He'd finally done it! He'd finally been with Hinata! It's true that it was Kiba that had been the one to push Naruto and Hinata together, but that was only a tactic to make Hinata fall for him. When she saw how much of a loser Naruto was, then she would run back to him right away, right?

Wrong.

As the months, and then years, passed and Hinata didn't come running to him; Kiba grew angry. In fact, Kiba rarely saw her without Naruto at her side. Kiba had to watch as they grew closer together and it made him clench his teeth every day. He was forced to endure the torture of seeing her with someone other than him, when he knew that she was meant to be his!

None of that matters anymore, though. No, not anymore; because he finally had her! Kiba had finally been with Hinata and it was everything that he thought it would be. There was the fact that he had to disguise himself as Naruto, but that wasn't of any consequence because every time she called out Naruto's name, Kiba would just pretend that she was calling his. Now that she had a taste of what a real man had to offer, she will be running back to him right away.

'_Oh, ho, ho. What do we have here?' _walking down the street was a good-looking brunette. The woman had a pretty, heart-shaped face with long, silky hair. She seemed to have an almost innocent air around her, but the mischievous look in her sea-green eyes told Kiba otherwise. She was a civilian, but the small amount of muscle tone on her body let Kiba know that she must work out regularly.

When she noticed Kiba checking her out, she gave him a coy smile, while adding a little more sway in her hips.

Kiba noticed the subtle change in her walking as she passed him and couldn't hold back the wolfish smirk that appeared on his face. Kiba stopped walking as he followed her luscious figure with his eyes. He watched her until she stopped by what looked to be the opening of an alleyway. Kiba saw as she gave him a little wink and stepped into the alley.

Kiba's smirk got wider, if possible, and thought, _'I'm sure Akamaru could wait at home a little while longer…'_ He turned around and was just about to walk after the woman when a powerful burst of malicious chakra exploded behind him. Kiba turned his head to see what the cause of the burst was.

Only to receive a fiery fist to the face.

* * *

And done! I would like to, again, thank all the reviewers who left a comment for this story. I know that it took a long time for me to get this done but I would like to thank you all for your patience.

I'm not sure if I will continue this story anymore after this chapter. I'm not sure if I want to commit myself to making a full-out story without any type of plot or any other ideas at hand. But you never know what the future brings, so I don't know.

Leave a message if you have any comments, or suggestions concerning the story.

I'll leave it at that.

So peace, for now.


End file.
